Crimson
by Siera-Knightwalker
Summary: Kaname is a Kurata. A kurata who survived the massacre of the clan by luck or by the will of her parents' killer, she doesn't know but that won't stop her from killing that bitch. The Spiders would pay.
1. Chapter 1

Blood. The color and the scent of blood was something she could no longer rid herself of. Lying in the river of blood of her family, she no longer cared to. She felt like the metallic scent of blood would permeate ever part of her and she would never be able to differentiate between her scent and it again. She didn't dare leave her house. She didn't dare to leave the warm- _coldcoldcold_ \- comfort of her parent's body. The died to make sure she would live. Even without their beautiful eyes, they continued to gaze at her with love and she could no longer look away.

She had somehow stayed hidden beneath her laundry of clothes that her mother had thrown on her.

" _Don't move. Don't move. Please. Just don't move."_

Her mother had pushed her away, looking like she had hastily kept a basket of laundry aside to check on the screams that kept coming from outside. Her father had momentarily gone out and come inside moments later, eyeless and dropped to the floor.

A woman had come in after him, licking the blood- _redredred_ \- from her hands before smiling eerily. She slowly walked to her mother, tauntingly and cut out her tongue. She tortured her slowly and even after her screams faded into nothing, they continued to ring in her ear. She felt absolutely nothing. She would probably be the next to die but she didn't care. It had been an hour or so of torture for her mother until her eyes turned the beautiful crimson as her father.

Her eyes had never turned crimson before.

She stayed still, barely breathing. The hours passed by and she still remained. When the screams finally stopped, she climbed out. Her mother lay still on the ground near her. Her hand had fallen on top of her. She patted her mother's head.

"You can sleep, mama." Her voice cracked like she had been screaming or hadn't spoken for weeks. Her mind flashed back to the moment she saw the monster's back.

 _The spider themed tattoo on her back._

 _Number 8._

She would kill her. She would make her bleed. Make her pay. Her blood for every single person she killed. She would torture her-

She stumbled over someone and fell on the river of blood that flowed through their clan. The sun was setting beautifully and she couldn't stand the sight of it. Her hands were dyed red and she stood back up. She had no place to go now. She walked into the forest she had always been forbidden from, and she kept walking.

There was nowhere to go.

Nowhere to return to.

 _Nowhere to call home._


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm going to the Hunter Exam because she's not doing anything too interesting and what she is, I want to keep a secret for a bit.**

 **This is definitely** _ **not**_ **fem!Kurapika because Kurapika was in his teens during the massacre. Kaname was 7. She's now 12.**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own hxh. If I did, Tonpa wouldn't exist.**

 _Five years later_

"Candidate No. 347."

The year's Hunter Exams was taking place in Zaban City and Kaname was lucky enough to be close by. Her gut told her it would be important to attend that year's hunter exam and she had been planning for it for some time anyway. Hunter license was too important to not get.

The first stage simply consisted of people running then climbing stairs. Some people failed, but most of them just lagged behind. She just kept near the middle. Some idiotic fat guy kept trying to give her some juice or something but when she ignored him, he just panted and hung back. Some people were really stupid. Idiotic people don't pass the hunter exam. Nor do normal people, and even if they do, it's very rarely.

There were a couple people her age running near the back but they came to the front by the end of it.

The examiner was replaced by some mimic monkey thing then Hisoka, candidate number. 44, just got annoyed and threw cards at both. The real examiner caught the card and kind of scolded the most threatening examinee there. She had heard about him almost killing the examiner the last time he took a test. He was amoral too, which wasn't really surprising. Most of the people in the world, especially people who are Hunters are amoral. Killing creatures or people with sentience are routine for many. Not to mention assassins.

It was kind of sad, Kaname thought. But who was she to judge? She was the exact same. She was more than willing to kill people who got in her way. She only cared about people who she was close to. She only had 2 people she was willing to give her life to save, but honestly, they were both ridiculously strong and didn't need her to sacrifice her life for them.

She was kind of glad for that. Kaname only had one goal in her life and she really wanted to live long enough to see it through.

Past all the mist where Hisoka seemed to be testing quite a few people, she found the site of the next exam. She hunted both the boar and the fish, tried to compile both into something edible and was rather doubtful she succeeded, but everyone passed the first part and everyone failed the second part. She wasn't exactly a great cook, she could do the boar well enough but she wasn't a master of sushi making. She thought rice was needed but apparently not. She had vague memories of sushi. It wasn't exactly something a normal person found in their daily meal course.

Their second exam was replaced by a 'catch the egg' game by Chairman Netero. She stayed back to observe the timing and strength of wind before jumping. The freefall was fun and the egg was easy to get after that. They used the wind to get back up again. She was- honest to god- grinning. She was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, after all.

After that, Chairman Netero seemed to take quiet interest in the boy with black, spiky hair. The old man had tried to invite her as well but she refused on principal. She had no desire to get involved with kids her age. They would only end up dying when she inevitably went to hunt down the Phantom Troupe. But despite herself, she found herself getting interested in the duo. The silvette smelt of old blood, a familiar scent to her. He was similar to her. He killed too. But the other boy had a strange charisma in his every action. It was intriguing.

The silvette would also gaze back at her, probably at her stink of blood. She had killed quite a few people. The Phantom Troupe would only get to experience the best of her skills, after all.

Chairman Netero kept an eye on each of the group of four- Kurapika, Leorio, Killua and Gon- with amusement and consideration. He was also curious about her but probably didn't care to approach her. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or envious. To receive the consideration of the Chairman of the Hunter Association was a great thing but she didn't exactly want the spotlight that much. She wasn't even sure she would survive the Phantom Troupe.

Kaname was bothered by the blonde's appearance. He seemed familiar, for some reason. His clothes were ridiculously familiar too. Had she seen him somewhere? It was like an itch at the back of her head. She just wasn't sure why he felt so familiar.

Their third test was to go through Trick Tower, a prison for criminals. Needless to say, many people would be dying, and the enemies would be strong. So obviously, she stumbled on the _one path_ that led to joining up with the odd group of four.

"Hello! I'm Gon. This is Killua, Leorio and Kurapika. Are you okay?" Her eye twitched as she lay on the floor of the room.

"-just glad it isn't anyone like Tonpa," the old guy muttered. The blonde just nodded and smiled at her. She self consciously tucked her brown hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Hello, my name is Kaname." Their clan had strictly disallowed anyone from mentioning their clan. Their eyes were a rare specimen after all. "It's nice to meet you all."

"Hey, let's be friends!" Gon said brightly. Killua followed along with Gon. It was kind of embarrassing how her face brightened before she had even said anything. Killua definitely found it funny cause he started laughing. She huffed.

"Sure, sure. Laugh it up. I assume you're a package deal?" Killua looked surprised but agreeable. It was cute. He wanted friends too.

Before he could say anything in reply, the third phase examiner, Lippo explains the rules of 'The Path of Majority'. It was pretty simple, overall. The atmosphere between them was casual and lighthearted. She found herself laughing and joining in.

Killua would tease Leorio of being old and he would exclaim back that he wasn't. Then everyone started laughing at _her_ shocked face. The guy had to be 20 or something, at least, right? But apparently, he wasn't. That was really surprising. Leorio just grumbled.

She slowly relaxed in their company, telling them small things about her being an orphan and being helped by a hunter for a month or so. Then this other hunter who would occasionally drop by to check up on her and teach her small things. She spent most of her time in the wild, doing small jobs to get money. She had been close by when she heard about the Hunter Exam and decided to take it.

"So this is your first time too?" Gon asked curiously. She smiled back reflexively.

"Yeah. I was planning to take it last year but the hunter guy decided to drop by and delayed me a lot, so I just decided to take it the next year." She frowned in irritation. They were both kinda assholes. But they cared, and she was just grateful for that.

"Who were they?" Killua asked bluntly. She was wondering when they would. But they probably assumed she wanted to keep it a secret for some reason or other. Well, they weren't wrong exactly. She didn't want it getting out that hunters helped her train or she would be tested by Hisoka or killed by their enemies. She looked at them briefly before dismissing her worries. They didn't seem to have any kind of vengeance against good hunters.

"Well, the guy who helped me out was Ging and his friend who kept dropping by is Kite. I only saw Ging once, but he helped me out a lot. I really owe the guy. Kite was just an annoying shit who kept kicking my ass around every time he came around. But he also helped-" She stopped when she didn't see everyone walking with her.

Everyone was staring at Gon, and then her. Did she say something insulting? Did Gon actually have some kind of issue with Ging or Kite?

"Ging Freeces?" Gon's eyes were wide and he was smiling widely. She stopped the reflexive smile before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, that's him." Gon's grin seemed to widen and she shot a confused look at Killua, then Kurapika and Leorio, who were also smiling.

"That's my dad!" She nodded before pausing and staring at him with wide eyes. She opened her mouth before closing it. Looked at him for a second before turning and banging her head on the wall.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Ow." She thud against Leorio's hand and Kurapika pulled her back from the wall.

"I'm so stupid!" She cried out. "Of course, you're his son. You guys look so alike!" She growled in irritation. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

"Why didn't I notice that before?!" Killua snickered.

"Poor observation skills?" Her eye twitched, but he wasn't exactly wrong.

"Ugh!" She clenched her fist in front of her face but Killua danced away. She huffed but didn't follow. She looked at Gon and scratched her cheek.

"I wasn't with him for long but I could tell you about my time with him?" Gon immediately nodded, still grinning. "But first, the exam."

"Okay!"

They reached the next choice and finally reached the arena with the prisoners they would probably be fighting. All five were hooded and deadly.

"The applicants are here. Unlock my handcuffs." A deep voice spoke up. His handcuffs fell. "There we go."

He came to the light showing that he was muscled and ripped. Her eyes narrowed. He seemed moderately strong and smart. Leorio would be eaten alive. Gon was a maybe. Kurapika was probable. Killua would be the best bet. He would end it fast.

"Gentlemen and lady, let me explain. You probably already know this that some of the criminals of the Trick Tower are standing before you." A voice echoed in through the arena.

"These are prisoners?" Kurapika's eyes focused on the enemies with a slight frown.

"Not just prisoners. The Hunter Committee has officially hired them as examiners. In this phase, you'll be fighting against all five of them. The fights will be one-on-one with each person fighting only once. Use any style you like. There will be no draws. To be declared winner, your opponent must admit defeat." The examiner of the phase explained. He sounded like he was watching a show…which probably wasn't far off the mark. Hunters were strong beyond measure. All these fights must seem like child play.

"You can decide which one of you should go first, and this is majority rule, which means you need to secure 3 wins to pass." The first opponent spoke up again.

"I'm getting real tired of this." Leorio sighed, annoyed, but put his suitcase down.

"Meh. Sounds pretty straightforward to me." Killua responded casually. The rules were simple.

"Well, the fights will be anything but. For every hour the prisoners keep you occupied here, their sentences will be reduced by one year. In other words, their goal in this phase is to literally buy time."

"I get it. We're on the clock, and if we don't get out of here by 72 hours, we fail. So as you're fighting, remember, time is of the essence." She frowned. Wasn't 72 hours more than enough time to cross the tower?

"Okay, I'm fighting whoever's first. So who's it gonna be?" The prisoners' spokesperson said.

"Now what? He said to fight however we want." Killua looked to Kurapika for assistance. It was the right choice though, Kurapika was at least a smart fighter. He would be good for leadership roles. He was charismatic in his own way too. "I'm guessing that means anything goes."

"Everybody, be careful. No telling how this will go."

"Without knowing what's up their sleeve, there's far too much at stake." Kurapika said under his breath. "Given that, I'll-"

"Okay, you guys are being too dramatic." They looked at her, and suddenly the nervous tension was eased. She rolled her eyes. "It's pretty simple. We need 3 wins and we need to do it in the shortest possible time. So I suggest Killua goes first." Killua looked a bit surprised, but Gon had a go-with-the-flow attitude. Kurapika frowned and Leorio looked like she was asking him to sacrifice his newborn.

"But he's just a kid!" Leorio protested. For a moment, she was slightly confused. What did that have to do with anything? Then she realized. He was _normal_. No fighting prodigy, or too traumatic a past or something that made him fulfill his potential.

"Oh Leorio." She shook her head in pity. "He's probably the strongest among us right now. I'm not all that sure I'd be able to defeat him, and I was trained by Hunters." Well, that wasn't entirely wrong. If she went all out, she could defeat him. But then again, if she went all out, she could defeat a lot of strong people but then she'd be in coma or something.

Leorio looked kind of dumbfounded and frustrated. She suppressed a smile. Leorio was probably the most innocent of their group.

"End it fast." She looked at Killua seriously. "We don't want them to waste our time." Killua nodded and left his skateboard there. A path extended from their side to the arena.

They decided on a death match while Leorio and Kurapika were protesting. Killua was just uncaring, though slightly excited.

From the start, Killua rushed to him and before he could move to jump away, Killua was there. A single clean blow through the chest, and the opponent died. The blow was precise and professional. The blood was like an after-effect. Just like _that day._

He looked like he enjoyed holding his heart and taunting him. Kaname avoided looking at them, her heart beating fast, adrenaline running through her veins-

No. She didn't want to kill anyone here. She subdued her panic and bloodlust under a calm façade and hoped that no one noticed.

She tuned into the conversation in time to hear that Killua actually came from a family of assassins- the Zoldycks. Her lips twitched up. These people _were_ extraordinary. Perhaps they wouldn't just die if she went after the Troupe.

If their benchmark for power was Killua…they could actually be worth it. She zipped open her side bag and when Killua came back, she snapped a picture of him beside a surprised Gon, Kurapika and Leorio, who all just happened to be in the picture.

"What was that for?" Gon cocked his head. She smirked.

"Didn't you know? The picture of a Zoldyck is worth billions of jenny." Leorio gaped, while Kurapika smiled like he knew what she had just done.

"You just wanted a picture of us, didn't you?" Kurapika spoke up before Leorio could ruin the moment.

"Don't make it sound so creepy!" They were a group she met barely an hour ago.

"You didn't say no." She felt heat creep up her face and she scratched her cheek before looking away. "Let's check out the competition for the next match!"

Gon smiled widely. Killua also has a small smile. Leorio cheerfully ruffled her hair. The previous tension at Killua's reveal was gone, and she really felt happy with the group of four she met barely an hour ago, in the middle of the Hunter Exam, probably inches from death.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't know how well I write so any reviews would be appreciated. But I'm writing for fun so even if you don't, I probably won't mind. Much.**

 **Rentamiya: thanks! I'll try to do my best, though generally I don't really write long chapters, I'm hoping to do hxh justice though.**

 **I'll be exploring what make these characters realistic to me. I'll try to flesh them out as much as I can.**

The digital '0' over them became '1' and the first competitor's body was promptly thrown off the edge. The prisoners were taking them a bit more seriously.

"That probably wasn't a good idea." Leorio whispered to her and Kurapika looked uncertain as well. Kaname shrugged.

"Honestly, we'll be set if one of you three get a single win. I have a move that I can use if I have to but I'll probably be knocked out for a while. When we get 2 wins, I'll go." Killua looked assessing but all of them calmed down, even if Leorio looked worried. For a second she wondered what she had done to earn that trust.

"I'll go next!" Gon said with a determined smile. "If you both are participating, I want to too!" She smiled at him. So simple minded.

In response, a thin guy came out. In the arena, the guy told Gon that he wasn't a fighter but they could settle the fight with candles. The first one whose fire goes out loses. With that settled, they discussed which candle Gon wanted and the opponent would get the opposite one.

At first they argued which one would be tampered with- the longer one or the shorter one. Kurapika kept his theories turning round and round. She just rolled her eyes. Kurapika was just complicating it for himself.

Gon chose the longer one and when it started, the fire flared bright and big, burning through the wax easily. Gon and his opponent were stuck in their places due to the strong wind from all around the arena.

"Gon chose the right one. His opponent probably tampered both types of candles, keeping spare of both on him." Kurapika and Leorio looked slightly startled at not having thought of that but agreed soon enough.

"Yes, but he's going to lose if it goes on like this!" Leorio protested.

Gon kept his candle to the floor, before running to his opponent and blowing his candle out.

"I win." The other guy was stunned at the simplicity of the response, and just like that, they got their second win.

"You were saying?" She smirked at Leorio. He just grumbled.

"Okay, so I keep underestimating you guys."

"Damn right. But the next guy will be tough. They'll want a win so they'll be desperate enough to send out their strongest fighter." She frowned. "If, for some reason, I lose, Kurapika should get the next guy. That one should be easy picking."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go next?" Kurapika said. She smiled kindly at him. He really was a nice guy.

"Nah. I'll be fine." She massaged her neck muscles, slowly relaxing. Her opponent was someone who was still in manacles. He punched a guy into a wall and tore through the wall like paper. He was physically stronger than the first guy but didn't seem as clinical. He wouldn't show her mercy just because she's a young girl.

"Death match?" She looked at him and smiled.

It wasn't kind.

The second the match started, she dropped her limiters and landed on his shoulders, throwing him off his feet and twisting his neck before he could get his hands on her legs. She jumped away, steady and wary. He didn't show any miraculous technique to revive back to life or anything. She shrugged.

"Looks like the guy's dead." The prisoners looked pale and surprised. No one questioned her and she went back to the others. Leorio and Kurapika looked surprised and uneasy, suddenly remembering that Killua was a killer too. Kurapika had his neutral face back on but Leorio seemed very uncertain about how to act.

"What? It was the fastest way. If I gave him time to recover or didn't go for the kill, what do you think would happen? I'd be wasting time. We don't need to waste time uselessly now." They accepted that, but still seemed unsettled by how easily she could kill. She wasn't from an assassin's family or something, so it just ended up unsettling them more than Killua's actions did.

-x-

Gates were passed, choices were made and paths were taken. They ran most the way down and reached after the third person there. Hisoka's eyes instantly focused on Gon, and then her. She suppressed a giddy smile, because even though Hisoka was scary as all hell, she wanted to fight him. She had no plans to die though, so didn't. Kite had beaten a healthy survival instinct into her.

The other two were Gittarackur and Hanzo. The needle guy had a scary impassive feeling that immediately made her want to stay as far from him as possible. It was like he didn't care if he was killing a bug or a human. Hanzo was dangerous too but not to the extent the other two were. Staying in the room almost made her wish they had stayed inside the tower for a bit longer.

Still, they got to eat food and water and rest. The five stayed close by, ignoring others if they could. They talked and laughed, even with then uneasy tension in the room. With how cheery they were, she even saw Hanzo joining in a bit. Gon's charisma pulled him in too, though in his defense, he put a valiant effort to stop it. The whole thing was amusing beyond measure though Killua kept looking grumpy.

Kaname found herself sitting with Killua more often. She told him stories about getting weird pets, or weird moments in her life, like one where she found a poisonous snake coiled up beside her, soaking up her body heat. She ended up taking her as a pet for a few days before she bit another person and she had to release her into the wilderness. The person survived only because one of his friends could identify the snake.

Or the time she got saved by dolphins when she was thrown overboard by her 'guardian'.

Gon would tell her about the time he met Kite and he had to save him from a bear, Gon had taken in the cub and cared for him until he had to leave for the Hunter Exam. She was just relieved no one had anything against Kite, and Gon and she bonded over experiences with Kite. She didn't dare bring up Ging, and she was glad Gon didn't ask.

It was fun. But she couldn't shake off Gitterackur's glare or Hisoka's interest in her. She had just put herself in both of their radar for some reason or other. Maybe she had been wrong initially. She wouldn't get her friends killed, _they_ would get _her_ killed.

After 72 hours passed, the number of remaining contestants was in the twenties.

The next part of the test was explained and she immediately hid her own badge. Her number was 198 and she had no idea who that was. Her gut told her it was one of the three brothers. They were easy targets so she planned on getting them soon and running around or hiding it out. If not she had to take a few extras.

As long as she stayed away from Gitterackur, she'd be safe. Every inch of her body kept screaming to get away from him. She might have pissed him off for some reason.

In the boat to Zevil Island, she found Killua and Gon sitting together and sat in front of them. Putting her chin on her palm and elbow on her folded knee, she looked at them cheerfully.

"What are you guys talking about?" She smiled at them. Gon seemed excited but scared and Killua looked worried.

"Who did you get?" Killua asked immediately. Her smile widened.

"It's not you guys." She still took out her tag and showed them. "198."

"Huh. I got 199. Do you know who that is?" She thought for a while, it was probably one of the brothers too.

"Probably one of the three brothers. They're weak but if you get them, take mine off their hands too. I'll find you sometime." Killua smirked back.

"What, you want me to protect you?" She looked at him, thinking back on Gittarackur.

"Or something." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'll tell you later."

Killua looked surprised for a moment before giving in.

"So who did you get?" She looked at Gon, who seemed to be looking between them both with slight surprise. Did they say something weird?

"Hisoka." Her eyes widened with surprise before calming down. She sighed in relief.

"At least Hisoka will let you live. Thank god it's not Gitterackur. I would have to stop you then." Gon looked surprised at her response. "I mean, I heard about Hisoka. He let you live and called you 'unripe fruit', right? Which means he won't kill you until you become strong enough. It's probably the safest you can be in Hisoka's dictionary right now. He might even go out of his way to keep you safe if you prove yourself to him."

"You sound like you know him." Killua said with a cocked head. She laughed nervously.

"Uh. No offense, but your dad kinda reminds me of Hisoka." She nodded to Gon. "Not at the crazy bloodthirsty part, but the 'prove yourself worthy' part." Gon didn't say much after that, just nodded then went back to his mental preparation.

She stayed beside them, lazily gazing at the sky. Maybe Gon wanted to know about Ging when he met him? Gon didn't exactly ask questions about his dad, and she doubted he was actually bothered by the seriousness of having actual trained hunters out for their ass. She didn't know all that much about Ging anyway.

They reached the island after some time and were told to enter the island after an interval of 2 minutes.

When she entered the forest, she thought to wait for the brothers, or maybe Killua. Her instincts told her being near Killua was safe, even from Gitterackur. He wouldn't attack her if she was with Killua. Possibly.

By the time four minutes were up, she had thought up twelve scenarios, three of which were of Gitterackur being a jilter lover, or maybe Killua seduced him and he was a pedo or Killua was his latest target and she was spending a lot of time with him. Was he jealous? Maybe, he planned to kill Killua? She dismissed that thought immediately.

He was certainly skilled. Maybe he was Killua's teacher there to keep an eye on him? But wouldn't that mean he was connected to the Zoldycks? She kept that idea as a 'maybe'.

Zoldycks were a strange bunch. In the end she decided not to go with Killua, she might follow around the brothers later though.

-x-

Wandering around the island, she found the island pretty small. In her fastest, she could cover the breadth of the island in less than an hour and if she walked, she could do the same in about a day or two. The forest was lush and thick. The bloodcrazy butterflies were common on the island, probably due to the tropical climate.

She had encountered one man, and had promptly taken the badge from him after defeating him. He was a decent fighter, she supposed, but pathetic when compared to herself. She spent the first night awake, and the second night asleep. Other than a snake, nothing bothered her.

She was on her third day on Zevil Island, and she had taken the initiative to start searching for badges. She didn't even _see_ another person, much to her dismay. She wanted to get the Hunter license that year. She didn't want to wait for the next year! That was ages away.

The next day, a badge landed on her lap like it was a god given gift. She looked at the badge number '197' and cursed Killua in her mind. He had done something with prey's badge. She could practically imagine him laughing at her. She shouldn't have trusted him with her prey's badge number!

Her clenched her fist and tried really, really hard not to hit herself with it. She should have gone after her prey instead of relaxing. She sighed heavily.

Either way, she just needed one more po-

She jerked back just in time for a card to miss her neck.

"Mm. I was wondering when I would get to test you, little fruit." Her eyes widened and she instinctively backed away.

Hisoka looked at her with lidded eyes, a card in his hand, looking for all the world, that he would rather not be anywhere else.

"Hisoka." She had to tamper down her uncontrolled smirk and the fear coursing through her body. Adrenaline rushed through her body and the eye hidden by her hair, burned.

There was barely anything to show that he would move before he did. It was like he went from stillness to motion in a single move. The card sliced through her hair and cut a line across her cheek. Her eyes went to Hisoka's wound, wondering if she could take advantage of it.

Suddenly, Hisoka was in front of her and she had to duck and weave randomly to get farther. If she used her ability now, she would need to rest and she still didn't have her last point. She couldn't sacrifice her points and she had no desire to find Killua when she wasn't even sure if he had her prey's badge.

Her hands darted to her boots where she kept her easily reachable, rarely used blade. In the moment between two movements, she reached for her blade and took it out. It was as long as her forearm and absolutely straight. A chokuto, a man called it, but she wasn't sure. It wasn't as long as an actual sword because she didn't have training with one.

Kite had told her to use something that gave her a little reach. She was just glad she had any weapon at all. Without her ability, she wasn't as good but she could at least get rid of her limiters.

In a fluid motion, she used a backhanded grip and slashed at Hisoka. She darting about. She didn't want to be caught by Hisoka's cards. Those were lethal.

He kept moving away from her attacks but with every time she came closer and got used to his attacks, he could get this _disgustingly_ excited look on his face-

She shuddered.

Kaname tightened her grip on her hybrid sword and she reached out for the other. If he got serious, she was dead. The only chance she had was to attack with all she had.

"I never realized you had such an interesting ability." She narrowed her eyes before charging yet again. She relied entirely on her reflexes to get out of the way of thrown cards and attacked with both her blades. Sweeping across the space he stood half a second before she increased her speed. She had fought Kite like that.

Her only opponent was Hisoka and she could make use of the area to attack him. Her eye burned brighter and she saw clearly. One of her blades struck a card, and shattered, and the other slashed against his cheek just barely scoring a cut. She jumped away to disengage, cursing at her blade, making sure she didn't get cut by Hisoka's cards-

With a cut off gasp, she tripped backwards, stumbling away before falling on her ass. Her left hand released the knife to catch the bark of tree but she just ended up without her weapons.

She looked wide eyed at Hisoka, who had been looking like he was going to fall to his bloodlust but was staring at her with surprise and amusement clear in his eyes. Her cheeks burnt a bright red and she was still sitting on the ground-

She used the bark to stand up before stumbling again because she couldn't put too much pressure on one of her ankles. Say what.

She groaned in embarrassment and annoyance, and before she knew it Hisoka was laughing. At her.

"How amusing. Another Kurata brat." She stiffened and hoped the redness had left her eye already.

"I-I'm no-"

"Only the Kurata blood can activate or deactivate those eyes, even if you transplanted them." Her eye twitched. Wait. She looked at him, eyes wide with surprise and hope.

"Another?" Hisoka covered his smirk with a card. She glared at him. "What do you know."

She went tripping back, avoiding a lethal cut from his card.

"You pass." He looked at her with a smirk that seemed similar, yet different from the way he looked at Gon. "I'll keep an eye on you."

With just that, he walked into the shadows and she didn't see him again no matter how much she looked. She spent her time in a slight daze. It was only by luck she stumbled across a sleeping girl with a badge on her lap.

The announcement shook her out of her daze and ran to her meeting point in 15 minutes. Her ankle was only bruised so a few days pretty much healed it up. She presented her badges and proceeded to wait 45 minutes. Killua had arrived before her and she greeted him with an annoyed glare.

"Did you throw my badge away?" Killua's lips lifted in a smirk. "I knew it!" Before she could actually begin her tirade, he presented her with her prey's badge. For a second she looked at the badge, surprised.

"You just never found me." For the second time that week, she found a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"O-oh. Sorry. I found the badge number 198 so I thought you threw mine away too. I just went ahead and collected three." She shot a glare at Hisoka. "Kind of." She whispered under her breath.

"Did you fight Hisoka?" She scrunched up her nose. It was one of her most embarrassing moments. She looked at Killua shyly through her hair.

"No?" Killua didn't fall for her act. She unconsciously pouted at his raised brow.

"I didn't." She looked away.

"Then why were you-"

"Okay fine!" She half-yelled. The other contestants looked at her and she scratched her cheek, looking away from them. "I did. It was-"

A blush crept up her cheeks.

"It ended kind of embarrassingly." She unconsciously rolled her healing ankle, drawing Killua's attention to it. Killua snickered.

"Did you trip?" She bit her lip and nodded. Killua started laughing and she couldn't stop her face from turning her face tomato red.

"It's not funny!" It was. But she didn't want to say that to Killua! She bore his laughter for 10 more seconds before her patience snapped.

"You-" She made a frustrated sound and jumped on him, she had forgotten that she still didn't have her limiters on and so she jumped faster than Killua anticipated and to both their surprise they crashed and fell. A few of the contestants made to help them but they had rolled down towards the beach.

After a few seconds of struggling with each other, they stopped moving right as they reached the beach. The sand increased traction and slowed them. She pulled away and sat on his waist. For a second, they just looked at each other before both burst into laughter.

She didn't even remember what they had been talking about, they just laughed and each time they looked at the other seemed to set them off. It felt hilarious for some reason. A bubbly feeling seemed come over her and she couldn't stop her lips from spreading into a smile.

"Killua? Kaname? What are you guy doing down there?"

Kaname and Killua shared a smile at Gon's voice. She got up and extended a hand to help him up. He looked slightly surprised before accepting her hand.

"Come on! Let's go meet up with Gon." Killua nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."

Whatever awkwardness they seemed to have had disappeared, and she couldn't help but be glad about that. Killua was a friend now. No matter how troublesome her new friends might be, she would fight tooth and nail for them.

She really was happy with them. She looked at the sea sparkling in the light of the sun and smiled.

 _Kite, you really don't need to worry about me anymore._

Then Gon called for her again and Killua called out an impatient "come on, hurry up!" and she couldn't spare time to think of people past when she had people waiting for her.


	4. Chapter 4

**I love hunter x hunter. Seriously. So much. It's so much fun writing this story. It might not be that awesome because I don't have a beta and I don't really go over my own stuff but I really love writing this!**

 **Oh, and by the way, I made her strong because she's gonna develop normally. She's not getting random power-ups but she starts off strong and she's going to continue becoming stronger!**

 **On with the story!**

After they reached the airship, even though she wanted to compare their experiences in the island, she wanted to speak to Killua without anyone overhearing first.

Kaname took hold of Killua's wrist and pulled him into one of the unassigned rooms.

"What is it?" Killua spoke up when she didn't say anything. She looked at Killua, wondering about Gitterackur. He didn't attack her. He didn't go out of his way to seek her out in Zevil Island. But she was sure that he disliked her. He made her instincts scream in a way even Hisoka didn't.

"What do you know about Gitterackur?" She looked at the clouds among which they flew. "There is something that makes me feel like he's focused on you." Killua shrugged.

"Probably found out about my family and wanted to kill me?" She frowned.

"No. He's dangerous but I don't think he wants to kill you." She fisted her hand. It was slightly shaking. "There's something about him. It's dangerous. Ridiculously dangerous." She looked at Killua dead in the eye. "Hisoka level dangerous. But he will not let people go because they have potential." Killua frowned when he saw how serious she was.

"Did he come after you in the forest?" Kaname shook her head.

"He didn't, but that's only unsettling me more." She walked and stood in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, she took hold of his hands, holding them firmly in hers. Killua looked surprised then a slight blush came over both their faces "I know you are strong. But you can't face him. He probably won't kill you, but-" she made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. Running a hand through her hair, she pulled away from Killua.

"I don't know what's up with him. Just- just be careful, okay?" Killua looked at her seriously before a small smile came over her face.

"Thanks, Kaname." He walked out of the room with a backward wave. She couldn't help the return smile even when she was so frustrated with the Gitterackur guy. She hid her smile and blush in her hand. She had no need to be flustered in front of Killua. She was turning into quite an idiot. With a shake of her head, she settled on a chair and relaxed.

After an hour or so, the speakers came on and they announced that the chairman wanted to talk to all the remaining contestants starting with Hisoka. When they called her name, she navigated through the blimp and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The Chairman said with a curious look on his face. "Please take a seat." She uncomfortably sat on the provided seat.

"Hmm. I have a few questions for you." He looked like a curious, harmless old man and honestly, with what her instincts was telling her, it was giving her a headache.

"Of course, Chairman."

"So, tell me, who are you keeping an eye on in the exams?"

"Well, 301 Gitterackur and 99 Killua, because they seem to be the most comfortable with killing." There was a flicker of interest from the Chairman and it made satisfaction lick at her insides. She was right. Gitterackur was someone dangerous. Something that the Chairman was aware about.

"Very well. Who do not want to fight?" Fight? So is the last exam a fight? A group or one-on-one. She frowned.

"Well, Hisoka and Gitterackur. I'd like to fight my friends." The edges of her lips lifted at the thought. She wanted to know how strong Gon and Kurapika was. "On the other hand, maybe not Killua. I don't mind fighting anyone else." She didn't want Killua going assassin mode in their fight. She would be forced to use her ability and be knocked out.

When she left the room, she had the unsettling feeling that she had given away a bit more than she would like. The Chairman really wasn't someone to take lightly.

They landed in a large Hunter associated hotel. It was a beautiful place with huge hallways and chandeliers. They were taken to hall where they would be fighting. It was a one-on-one where only the person who lost all their matches would not be getting a Hunter license. Also if someone killed, the killer would not get a license. They had to make their opponent give up and beating them into unconsciousness wouldn't do.

That made things a little harder, but if they only needed one victory, she could win a fight. The fights revealed-

Kaname vs Hanzo

Her eyes widened. She had the first match? How the hell-

Her eyes went to Hisoka. Her fight with Hisoka revealed a lot of her abilities. The weird, watched feeling she had throughout Zevil Island must have been a proctor following her. She scowled.

She needed to win the first fight. She couldn't let Hanzo win. She needed to use her ability and win it as fast as she could. Hopefully she won't be knocked out too long.

The next fight would be Hanzo vs Gon, and while she wanted to fight Gon, she knew she couldn't hurt him enough to make him give up. She would not be giving up two fights to get a win.

"So we meet again. You're the one who was following me in Zevil Island, right? Thank you for your recommendation. You're the reason I'm getting so many chances." Was that supposed to be a subtle intimidation tactic? She scoffed.

Kaname needed only a single touch.

She stood in front of Hanzo. Her limiters were gone and she would definitely be making herself blindingly fast. There was no need to dawdle.

"Begin." She took a single deep breath to calm herself, before launching herself at Hanzo with murderous intensity. Hanzo took a surprised step back, and she took out her blade, cutting his side and his right arm, disabling it.

His arms limply fell at his side and she stood with her sword in front of her, ready and waiting.

"Give up. I can slow bleeding and I'll cut off your arm if I have to." Hanzo's eyes widened as her impassiveness and she launched herself at him again, and he back flipped, avoiding a lethal cut on his stomach. He held his left arm to his stomach to see blood seeping through the bandages. He looked at her seriously.

This time he launched at her with a sword in his left arm. She met him with hers. His other arm twitched and she ducked in time to avoid a few shuriken to her chest. She knocked him down with a kick at the back of his knees, dancing away from his sword and finally getting hold of his disabled right arm.

Her lips widened into a smirk. Her sword rested at his neck and her right eye glowed a bright red with blood seeping down from it like tears.

Hanzo's pale face told her she certainly looked at a demon.

"Do you give?" There was barely any hesitation.

"I surrender."

Kaname didn't hear Kurapika's sharp inhaled breath, or Gon and Killua half-screaming her name in alarm. She didn't see Leorio get his bag with a worried frown.

The second she heard those words, her face relaxed and she let herself go. Falling to the ground with a 'thump' in the silent hall.

Hisoka chuckled to himself. She kept getting more interesting with every fight. He wanted her to reach her potential already. Already so strong. She already had her nen ability.

So very interesting she was.


	5. Chapter 5

**The ability may be a little cliché but I really wanted to write this for a long time! My updates may slow down soon though.**

 **Thanks for all the follows, favorites and reviews!**

Kaname woke up in the afternoon. The sun shone bright and high and she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. On the bed beside hers, lay Gon. He was bruised and battered and his arm was either fractured or broken.

Mr. Satotz sat between their beds reading a book.

"Mr. Satotz? Why are you here?" She blinked at him before yawning widely. She was still feeling pretty drained. "What happened to Gon? And Killua?" She looked around the room, hoping Killua would pop out somehow but he didn't seem to be there.

"I was hoping Gon would be awake by now. You have both passed the Exam. But your friend, Killua was disqualified." She frowned. Disqualified? Did he kill someone? It's odd that he would. Who was his opponent? The Pokkle guy right? Killua should have easily won the fight.

She slowly sat up on her bed, drinking the glass kept at her bedside as Mr. Satotz told her about how shaken Hanzo after their match. He bandaged his injuries and was determined not to underestimate Gon.

The second match started by Hanzo taking the initiative and beating Gon half to death with him barely being able to do anything. When he determined that Gon wasn't a monster like her, Hanzo relaxed and got hit by Gon. But Hanzo's beatdown of 3 hours had injured Gon severely. Then Hanzo threatened to break his arm and when Gon didn't give up, he broke it.

She pursed her lips, wondering if she could kill Hanzo even if he was partially aware about her abilities.

Mr. Satotz hesitated after that and she sighed and got up and sat on Gon's bed, lightly shaking him.

Gon woke up with a yawn and greeted her with a smile.

"Kaname! You're awake." She lightly hit his head. She wasn't sure if he had a concussion.

"Idiot. I should be saying that to you! Mr. Satotz was telling me what happened after I won my fight. He just told me you were knocked out too." She smiled at Gon before putting him in a headlock.

"You idiot! Don't refuse your Hunter license!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" He won't apologise, she thought to herself with a fond smile. She let him collapse on the bed, and this time she looked at Mr. Satotz.

"So tell us what happened next." Mr. Satotz seemed frown.

"It's about your friend, Killua, but I should tell this in order or I will confuse you both." Gon frowned this time, and she felt a little relieved. Gon wasn't there when it happened either.

By the end, both of them were feeling murderous as they walked down the hall to where Illumi was.

 _I-I want to be friends with Gon and Kaname._

 _ **Give up the fight and I will kill them.**_

 _I surrender. You win, Illumi._

 _ **I wasn't really going to kill them. (But you betrayed them both if I had)**_

Each word out of Mr. Satotz's mouth (did he even have one?) just made her more enraged. She really wanted Illumi dead by the end. But she wanted Killua more.

She slammed the doors open, her blade in her hand and she jumped the staired and slashed through the space which Illumi's head occupied. She back flipped away from the seats and to the stairway, avoiding a needle. She snarled, throwing her broken blade like a dagger and he jumped away.

He knew about her touch. She glared and ran to him faster than she had during the fight with Hanzo, just barely grazing his clothes. Illumi's eyes widened, either at her sudden acceleration or her touching his clothes, and she took the moment to restrain him and the millisecond of hesitation cost him when she touched his skin, stopping _him._

Her blade rested on his neck, and she practically snarled out her question, "Where is Killua?"

It was like holding Kite. It was a miracle she even could hold a single Hunter in place for more than a few seconds. Specially a strong one. Illumi was strong, and moving at all would distract her. She would lose her focus and let him go.

"Why do you want to-"

" **Where is he, you bastard?!"**

The veins in her eyes burst and blood flowed like tears down her face and her right eye glowed a bright red. She moved slowly, her blade pressed against his skin.

"We're going to take him from you." Gon spoke up when he reached her. "And we'll never let you see him again." He took hold of Illumi's arm and she moved back, making him incredibly slow instead of stopping him like she had. Stopping someone in place took an incredible amount of energy. Specially a Hunter.

She was going to pass out soon. She spat out a mouthful of blood, and leveled her blade in Illumi's direction.

"You're may be Killua's brother." She stood beside Gon. "But we are his friends. You have no right to take that away from us."

Illumi looked at her, and unlike the time in the Third Test when she had avoided his gaze, she glared right back at Illumi.

"You will find him at Kukuro Mountain."

"Let's go, Gon." She walked backward up the stairs before turning half away from him.

"Wait a moment. Since you are here already, let us conclude the seminar." Chairman Netero interrupted with a smile. Like the confrontation between Illumi and Gon and her hadn't even happened.

Gon and her kept standing, while they concluded by stating the uses of Hunter license as a ticket to various countries. Her grip on Illumi had faded and she was doing all she could just to stay upright. She would rest on the airship. There was no way she was going to pass out and delay their journey.

After the end, there were a few arguments about Killua getting his Hunter license, which was kind of stupid. Killua was strong and if he wanted, he could take the next year's exam and wipe out everyone in the first phase. If he was the only one, they would have to make him Hunter, right? She absent mindedly wiped the blood seeping from her nose. She hoped she didn't pass out from blood loss or anything. That would just be sad.

"Are you okay, Kaname?" She sighed.

"You can just call me Kana." She looked at Gon with a smile. "I'll be fine with some rest. We just need to get Killua."

"We'll get him back." Gon said with fierce determination.

"Hm." She nodded in agreement before stopping. It was giving her a fierce headache.

"Let's go." Gon carefully supported her and she had to smile at him. Gon really was sweet.

"I'm fine, Gon." She looked away from Gon just in time to meet Kurapika's. Her eyes widened.

Kurapika's _bright red eyes._

"Wh-what." She really did feel faint right then. She wavered and it was only Gon's hand on her elbow that kept her from falling. Kurapika's eyes were back to normal and filled with tears.

"You didn't know, did you?" Kurapika reached for her and hesitantly she reached out, holding onto his hand. Tears filled her eyes.

That's who Hisoka told me about.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Hisoka knew. That asshole." Kurapika froze for a second, before enveloping her in a hug. She clenched onto the traditional symbol on his attire, somewhere between angry and joyful.

There was someone else. Someone else from her clan! She was laughing hysterically into Kurapika's chest. Her hair was getting wet and she didn't want to move. Her clan's brutal massacre had another survivor. She huffed out a sob, tightening her grip on his tabard. She didn't want to let him go.

"Brother." She said softly. Kurapika stiffened, before relaxing.

"Sister." She looked at him and smiled brightly.

Kurapika felt unfamiliar. He smelled unfamiliar. But when his face softened and his lips lifted into a smile, she really felt like there was nowhere else she would rather be. It was like she was just waiting for him to show his presence. She couldn't help love Kurapika. Her tears slowed and she couldn't help the brilliant grin that lit up her face.

He had been someone to be wary from, but also someone who had suffered. So similar to herself that she had automatically labeled him dangerous. But knowing what she did, she dismissed all her wariness, all her fears.

Accepting friends was the best thing she had ever done in her life. Stumbling down the path of majority was her best mistake.

How could she ever regret what she had done when she got to meet another survivor of her clan?

"We should go." She yawned a little, blinking sleepily at Kurapika.

"Hm." She nodded. Kurapika sighed.

"You need to rest." He looked at Gon too. "Both of you pushed yourself too much. We'll stay today and leave after."

"No." She protested. "Let's just get on an airship and then we can rest."

"You're in no condition to be travelling!"

"I just need rest."

"Which will be best here!" They glared at each other.

"First sibling fight already?" Leorio interrupted.

"You shut up." Both of them snapped simultaneously.

" _And_ in sync? Damn guys. Killua is going to get jealous." Both sets of grey eyes glared at him.

"Why would Killua get jealous?" Gon said innocently. Leorio looked at Gon with surprise evident on his face before blushing lightly. "Ah! That's nothing."

"Yes, Leorio. Why would Killua get jealous?" Kurapika _looked_ at Leorio. He shuddered and shut up.

"No reason. Of course. What does Killua have to be jealous about? Haha." Leorio laughed, obviously nervous. She blinked at the other three before yawning again.

She really felt like she was missing something important.


	6. Chapter 6

Kaname was grateful for the days on the airship where she could rest easily. Every night she would sleep curled up beside Kurapika, and every morning he would wake her up with a smile. The whole thing made her happier than she had been in a long time. She was really lucky to find someone like him.

It felt like her life before meeting this group had been dull and meaningless. Now, her life finally had meaning again. Like there was hope in her life.

If only they could get Killua back now…

-x-

The Republic of Podokea was like every other place she had visited- forests and civilization formed where it could.

They asked the shop keepers about getting to Kukuroo Mountain and got directions to a tour bus which went up the mountain once a day. The guide kept chattering about the height and random facts about the mountain. Then she went on the known information about the Zoldycks. The family members and how they kept to themselves so no one had seen their faces. About the price a picture of their faces sold for.

Kaname kept an ear out about useful information and then two idiots decided to take on the Zoldycks. She almost burst out laughing. They actually thought they could take on Killua. His parents are so far out the picture, they wouldn't even see a glimpse.

They harassed the gatekeeper and Gon immediately leaped to help up the man. He didn't seem as strong as Killua but was stronger than Gon. In a fight, Gon would be able to take him though. He didn't seem too fast. She relaxed.

"You okay, old man?" She supported his other elbow as he sighed in exasperation.

"Mike, you shouldn't eat before dinner. Don't blame me if you get fat!" They turned their gaze to the side door which opened for huge claws to dump out two skeletons with the same clothes as the two people who went inside.

She had to stifle a smile. Those idiots were overpowered by a guard dog? And the dog was pretty fast too.

The tourists freaked out and left when Gon told them they were staying.

Gon told Zebro, the gatekeeper, about how they were Killua's friends while he served them tea. She took hers with a small 'thanks' but didn't bother drinking from it. Who knows what they put in there? But Zebro was friendly and thanked them for coming.

"I see. So, you're young master Killua's friends, are you? Happy to hear it! I've worked here for the past twenty years and, to the best of my recollection, you four are the first friends who have ever come to visit." He sat down with a tired sigh, looking like the old man he was.

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this since I work here, but this place gets pretty lonely. No one ever really comes to visit. Well, except for these types. We get out fair share of those." He laughed, pointing to the skeleton of the two idiots who tried to challenge the Zoldyck.

He was trying to gain their sympathy. Classic methods. But there wasn't really a reason, was there? Maybe he realized they were capable of killing him? But that didn't really seem appropriate considering he served a family of assassins.

"But a family of assassins is bound to be unusual. Guess that's the price they have to pay. Oh well. Anyways, I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for coming." She frowned. Was he trying to dismiss them?

"Don't mention it." Leorio waved his bow off, kind as ever.

"However, that doesn't mean I'm going to be able to let any of you inside." He looked at them with sharp, narrow eyes. "You saw them earlier didn't you? How huge the beast's arm was? That arm belongs to Mike. It's the Zoldyck's watch dog. It only obeys the family and attacks everyone else. As a matter of fact, it's still following the orders its master gave him ten years ago- to kill every single intruder who tries to get inside."

So basically, we just don't have to be labelled intruders then? And the 'everyone else' was definitely a lie.

"I guess, he isn't following it technically because he keeps eating them." He laughed loudly. "But as I was saying, I can't let you in. I wouldn't want friends of young master Killua to be stripped down to their skeletons." He laughed again. He took a break from talking to take a sip of his tea.

"You mean-"

"Question-"

Kurapika and she looked at each other and the serious expression melted into smiled.

"Go ahead." Kurapika told her with a smile.

"So the huge gates called 'Gates of Hades' _isn't_ an actual gate? It just seemed so grand and everything. Perfectly complimentary to the huge compound. It even had all the Roman numbers on it to separate it into different gates." For a moment, everyone other than Zeboro looked dumbfounded. Then Leorio dramatically whirled around to stare at the gate.

"That's impossible!" She shrugged with a small amused smile.

"It just seemed like a logical thought process."

"How is it logical?!"

"You're absolutely correct." With that pronouncement he led us to the gates.

"Would you like to try?"

Leorio tried really hard but it was like pushing a wall. They also probably shouldn't have sent out their most 'normal' person to push open the heaviest gates they had seen.

"I've pushed and pulled and it won't budge! Are you sure it's this gate?"

"I'm afraid you're just not strong enough."

"Shut up! I was giving it everything I've got." Leorio generally wouldn't snap at an elderly but he really was exhausted and frustrated.

Zebro took Leorio's place at Leorio's frustration. He took off his shirt and stood in front of the gates, concentrating.

"Step back and watch." With deep exhale, he pushed hard and opened the smallest gate. When he let go, they automatically closed.

Zebro told them that the gates were called 'Testing Gates' and Mike had orders not to eat anyone who comes through the Testing Gates. He confessed how hard it was becoming to open the gates but if he couldn't they would fire him. She sympathized with him, wondering if by 'fired' he meant 'killed'.

Then the guy said that the first doors weighted two tons each, and each doors weighted twice as much as the last door. That Killua could move the doors that weighed 8 ton with ease. Her eye twitched. She could probably move the second gate, without her ability, and if she used it, she could probably move a few more.

But it pissed her off that Killua could move 16 tons with ease even without a badass ability like hers. How annoying. She really needed more training.

"May I borrow the key? I didn't come all this way to be tested." Her brain crashed and burned at Gon's statement. "I came to see my friend. Think of me as an intruder." Gon was being an idiot again. Gon didn't want to be tested by a family of assassin because of his assassin friend? There was no way they would just let them through.

Zebro explained about his not doing that to Killua's friends and refused, and Kurapika agreed with him. Then Zebro offered an alternative. He called the butler and tried to ask to let us meet Killua. That didn't work out. But Gon offered to talk to him. She was getting kind of irritated at not being able to do something. Maybe she _should_ offer to open the gate or just straight up destroy it.

She stood beside Gon and listened in.

"You've reached the butler's quarters."

"My name's Gon, and I'm one of Killua's friends that came to visit. Is Killua there? Can I speak to him?" Yes Gon. Charm their pants off!

"Master Killua does not have friends." She twitched. It was like an instant piss-off button. She really wanted to punch the guy in the face. Maybe in the balls too. Gon called back and put the phone on his ear waiting for the guy to pick up again.

"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW THAT? PUT KILLUA ON THE PHONE NOW."

Then the butler guy kept saying that he might not even be Gon, or maybe Gon was Killua's friend and he was blackmailed or so on. Honestly, the more he spoke, the more pissed she got. She really wanted to destroy the Testing Gate and let them deal with the fallout of having random people come on their property. She straight up walked out to the Gates and put a hand on them.

Yes, she could destroy the gates. A few hours and she could destroy the whole thing.

Gon followed after her with Leorio behind him. Kurapika was already standing behind her. She didn't even notice him. Gon threw the hook over the wall and Leorio tried to bring him down.

"I can just destroy the gate, if you want."

"Huh?" Leorio, Kurapika and Zebro stared at her. Gon, on the other hand, jumped down.

"Why didn't you just say that before?" She smiled a flat smile, still very much annoyed at the butler guy.

"I wasn't annoyed enough to piss off a family of assassins. It will take me half an hour but I can destroy the first Gate." Gon nodded in agreement.

"I can wait half an hour." Then Gon sat down and stared at the Gate. The other broke out of their daze.

"You can't piss off a family of assassins! You'll die!"

"How can you even do that?"

"I don't think that's a very good idea." Zebro interrupted the other two. "They'll probably kill you as soon as they notice. I wasn't aware you were a Hunter." Zebro looked at her curiously.

"We all are, actually." Kurapika spoke up. "We just gave this year's Hunter Exam." Zebro looked startled.

"All of you?" He said, but it was certain he mean Kaname more than anyone else.

"Yes. I was trained before though." Zebro relaxed and nodded.

"I see. That must mean you are able to open the Gates, correct?" She sweat dropped when they glared at her.

"Why don't you just open the gate?" Gon frowned at her. She sighed.

"Gon, stop being an idiot. Behind that gate, we will be tested harshly. I'm not sure if I could survive inside. I get knocked out, remember? But I'll still go if I have to. As Kurapika said, we have time. We should train." Gon frowned.

"It will be too dangerous. I agree that you are the most capable right now but I too am reluctant to let you go now." Kurapika intervened.

She frowned but didn't say anything. Kurapika was probably just finding his 'overprotective brother' mode.

"Why don't you just open the Gate for all of us?" Gon said irritated.

"Then you'll just get hurt worse if you go like this!" She snapped back. A dark glare came across his face.

"Just because you're not as upset-" She slapped Gon across his cheek. She took a moment to breathe. How dare he-

No, no. She wasn't going to think like that.

She looked him in the eye. "You're the only person among you three that I would trust to protect my back right now. But you're injured. You'll be a liability if we go now. Do you realize that? Leorio and Kurapika aren't strong enough to face people like the Zoldyck family. We aren't either but we're closer."

She knew that saying this to Kurapika and Leorio's face probably hurt them but they weren't people who would confront her over this. Kurapika might be her cousin but Gon was the one with an unshakable will. Who wanted to be her friend even when she looked like she would rather be anywhere else.

Passing through the Zoldyck wasn't about who was the strongest, though that would matter. Gon was the best choice as a companion for this. He had his own skill set, he was at home in forests and if they were ambushed, Gon would have the most chance of detecting it. On the other hand, Kurapika and Leorio might impress the Zoldyck but it was a doubtful without a skill set that stood out. So they would be killed and she would be left for dead. Better she go alone than that.

 _Not to mention…_ She shoved that line of thought in the back of her mind, feeling guilty and upset.

Gon was upset but he was still thinking about what she said.

"The Zoldyck family will let us take Killua. But only if we're strong enough. They _will_ test us. And I know I can pass. But I doubt I can go through all of them without using my ability." Which would result in her passing out. Her nails dug into her hand. What was the use of her strength if she couldn't even help her friend when he needed it?

"Then go without me." Her eyes widened. "I mean, I don't want you to leave me behind. But you'll just be slowed down by me, right? So, I want you to go without me. Kurapika and Leorio can still help you more than me." Her eyes softened and smiled. Strength wasn't really the requirement, and she would rather go alone than with them, but the line was thought was a bit too much like Gon.

"Gon. When I said, 'we' are going to get Killua back, I meant 'we'. I'm not leaving a friend behind. No matter where it is." A part of Gon probably understood that she wasn't going to back down, but he still argued.

"But we need to get him back!" She pulled Gon in a hug.

"We will. We just need time." She combed through Gon's hair comfortingly. "It's okay. Killua is okay. We'll get him back as soon as you heal." Gon leaned on her in support. He was sad and angry and frustrated but he understood when she said she wouldn't leave him behind. He wouldn't either.

-x-

That night, when they saw Mike after entering through the Gate, Gon understood what she meant. Mike was dangerous on a primal level. He wasn't just a dangerous animal. He had met many of them. But Mike was a creature with no will of his own. He wasn't an animal at all.

Kaname had stood in front of Gon when he was too terrified to move. Taking away Gon from his line of sight. Mike already had his scent though. Still, she tried to protect him when he was terrified to the core. A creature like that was nothing he would ever want to meet again.

Deep into the night, when they reached Zebro's house to train, she requested heavier weights until she couldn't move. Seaquant and Zebro had looked in at her with approval when she requested weights for her arms as well. She had still drunk the tea and opened the door when they were too tired to.

At the end, when everyone slept, she closed her eyes and wondered how it would have been if she had left Gon behind after all. No doubt Killua would have been disappointed to not see Gon but he had to have been happy to see her too, right?

In the end, she hadn't wanted to face Killua without Gon. It felt like crutch but she couldn't bear to see disappointment when he looked at her.

(He wouldn't, but it took her some time to realize that.)

 **Yup. So she has a bit of an inferiority complex too.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know I really need a beta… Sorry, but I really wanted to get it out there, you know?**

Halfway through the first week, Kaname realized she had gotten used to the weight. It was a weekly procedure to pile up weights on her until she could barely walk. She continued all the exercises everyone else did, but made her body develop a little faster. It wasn't much but in the accumulation of 3 weeks of training, she had left the combined weights worn by her friends in the dust.

Seaquant was the most surprised and after a slight advice to Kurapika and Leorio to take care of timing when they pushed, he didn't bother them. Zebro seemed to regard her with respect and had added 'sama' at the end of her name once, but when she had just smiled, confused, he laughed it off and never called her that again. It had been odd.

Kaname had stayed with Gon during the day, pushing him farther and stopping him when his arm might get worse by any exercise. Gon had gotten extremely good at doing things one-handed.

At night, she stayed with Kurapika, telling him how she had lived in the five years before she met him. How Ging had pulled her out of her depression and hatred. How he told her about Hunters. He hadn't told her what to do, but he showed her what she could do instead. He had been there when she had accidentally aged small plant by hundred years. He taught her basic control. Nothing big or dramatic. Just control.

Kite had found her barely a year after Ging left. He had stumbled across her while she was experimenting with her powers. How she had trustingly told him about her power and Ging. Kite had trained her, warned her, and taught her to stay hidden. He told her to take the Hunter Exam, but last year, when he came to visit her, she had stopped him.

Not slowed, like she usually did. But outright _stopped._ It hadn't been for long but Kite had looked somewhere between wary and joyful. He told her that she should take her Hunter Exam as soon as possible, and someone would teach her how to get stronger. How to control herself better.

In the meantime, he had told her to meditate as much as she could. Her first meditation had ended disastrously. She had apparently grown a forest around her in less than a minute. Kite had pretty much given up on her.

She giggled to herself at the thought of his expression. But Kurapika could hear her sadness, so could the other two, she gathered. Every night when she told Kurapika about her days, neither Gon or Leorio would sleep. They quietly listened to her till late at night.

Some nights when she didn't want to talk, Kurapika would speak about how he had trained and lived in the cities. How he found random jobs to do for the people of the town. Some nights when neither could talk, Leorio or Gon would speak about their life. Leorio would speak about his friend who died, or Gon would speak about his aunt Mito and his grandmother. He would lovingly speak about how they raised him, and even though Aunt Mito was sad, she let him go to the Hunter Exam.

One night when she woke from a nightmare of her mother's screams, she couldn't help but talk about how she survived the massacre. How her mother had never had the Scarlet Eyes of the Kurata but her father did. How screams rang out long before her parents were found. How her mother had hid her, with stale clothes to hide her smell, with bleach around the house and most of her things hidden. Her outside shoes were carefully hidden, like she was playing outside.

Kaname had had no idea what the problem was, but her mother knew. She told her not to move, not to leave. Not to run until she was sure.

Her mother was tortured for hours before she was killed. Until her eyes grew scarlet with hatred. Through it all, she didn't move an inch.

Kaname was curled up against Kurapika, soaking his nightwear with her tears.

"I just want her dead. People like that shouldn't exist. That's all I want." Her fingers curled up around her brother's clothes, vaguely aware of Kurapika's own blindingly scarlet eyes. But even in the midst of his own hatred, he pressed his lips on her forehead and calmed her down.

"I'll make sure it is. Leave it to your brother. You'll be fine." A little of her own hatred lessened and she relaxed. There was confidence and determination in his voice. Like he would move heaven and earth to make it true, like he would rather kill himself than let her hurt. It was selfishly reassuring.

"Thank you."

-x-

The next morning, she had been horrified at the thought of sharing her nightmare with Kurapika. He had his own burdens to carry. She could handle her own, herself. But that morning, Kurapika hadn't been worse. He had been a little more determined, but he had still been his serious semi-cheerful self.

He had never asked anything about that night, and she hadn't either. If Leorio looked at her with a bit more care that before, she ignored it. When she stayed with Gon, like she had always done every day, he didn't behave differently.

That evening, when they left to eat, he looked at her and smiled, slightly different from usual but just as friendly. She knew what he was saying

"You're my friend, aren't you? I'll always trust you." And with that, she had left. Because she had never meant anything more than she did then. Gon, Killua, Kurapika and even Leorio had become people she loved. She would never _not_ trust them.

-x-

Three weeks in, Kurapika and Leorio had managed to move the door and then Gon had revealed that his hand had already healed, which was the truth as she had been monitoring his astounding healing rate.

All of them together managed to open the gate. She rolled her shoulders when they finally succeeded. She pulled them up with a smile.

"Well, both our goals are done! Now, I want to see how many gates I can open!" She said cheerfully before releasing her arm weights. They cratered deeper than all of Kurapika, Leorio and Gon's weight combined. Then she released her vest.

Leorio was left with a gaping jaw and even Kurapika had wide eyes. Gon was slightly startled but got over it quicker. Zebro just chuckling like the old grandfatherly man he really wasn't.

She took in a deep breath before pushing at the Gates, the first three gates gave way to her easily, but the next few made her work. When she finally found her limit, she released and stepped back to assess her strength. She had opened the 5th gate fully.

"So, 64 tons?" Crackling her knuckles, she nodded. Good enough for her.

"Six-Sixty four?" Leorio said faintly. He looked like he was about to faint too. Kurapika was still staring at the Gates with wide eyes, like looking hard enough would change the results. Gon just counted to himself.

"That's five gates, so since each gate is twice the weight of the previous amount…" She smiled at Gon before putting an arm around his shoulder cheerfully.

"Come on! We're finally going to get Killua." Gon was instantly distracted.

"Yeah! Let's go." This time Gon was the one who pulled her along, and she caught Kurapika's hand with laugher bubbling through.

"Come on, Leorio!" She said, almost through the gate. Leorio startled, seeing the gates close.

"Wait for me guys!" He ran through, just barely making it. Gon and her just laughed and ran down the pathway. They already had an idea where to go with Zebro showing them the direction.

On the path, barely an hour in, they came across a gateway with a girl around their age standing there, waiting for them. Zebro probably informed them that they had crossed the Testing Gate.

The girl drew a line and told them that on passing the line, she would repel them, by force if necessary. Gon glared at the poor girl.

"We're here to see Killua! We're his friends." She saw her surprise and slight hope at Gon's words but her body and face betrayed nothing.

Gon walked forward, determined to cross the line and she sighed, following. The second he crossed the line, she was there holding the staff before it hit Gon.

"I'm not letting you hurt him." She narrowed her eyes, before wrenching the staff from her hand and throwing it at Kurapika. "We'll see Killua. And take him from here." Her eyes widened dramatically.

"Master Killua-"

"If you say, he doesn't have friends I'll need to get your ears checked." She said with a flat smile that did nothing to hide her fury. " _We_ are his friends." The girl looked at her and Gon with desperate, worried eyes.

"You must help Master Killua. He's-" A shot rang out and before she could do anything more than jump away, something hit the girl on her temple and knocked her unconscious.

"Honestly, that girl saying whatever she wants about her employers." Kaname immediately disliked the woman. She came out of the forest with a gir- No, a boy in a kimono. The lady told them about how Killua had known about them being here for two weeks already. How he had come home and willingly stepped into solitary confinement to show his regret. Honestly she was really close to snapping and punching her in the face, to destroy the visor and whatever was left of her vision.

Then the woman went on to Killua's message. She sneered in response. What did she think they were, idiots? It didn't matter if the message came from Killua's mouth or not. Illumi could manipulate Killua, and he had already shown that. They needed to be sure that Killua was fine and no woman, even his mother (who he had stabbed, apparently), would get in the way of that.

When she left, Canary, the apprentice butler, told them that she would guide them to the butler's quarters where they could call the main family and if the grandfather, Zeno Zoldyck picked up, they might have a chance to get to Killua. They agreed and she couldn't believe how easily they were letting them get away. They really must have believed them when they said they were Killua's friends. All these tests were just to see if they were strong enough to stay beside Killua. She looked back at the direction Killua's mother left at, wondering if she had already passed the test or not.

They were welcomed into the butler's quarters by five other butlers. She kept an eye on the head butler. When they spoke she recognized his voice as the one that responded to Gon. She glared at him throughout the time they were seated and refreshments were offered. She didn't glance away, didn't take anything from anyone and sat beside Gon on the couch.

The guy behind her wasn't that strong and definitely wasn't fast enough to hurt one of them grievously before she killed him. But the Gotoh guy was. She needed to keep her eyes on him at all times.

When he offered to play a game, she was instantly suspicious but she said nothing. He told her she didn't need to play the game, and she rejected his offer, sitting back and watching the coin be flipped about his hands comfortably. Whatever this game was, she wouldn't let her friends be trapped without her there.

He was very familiar with those coins though. She frowned.

There wasn't any blood on them that she could see. But then again, they either cleaned up properly or just exchanged the coins altogether.

When Gotoh said that if they failed Canary would be killed, she sent her an apologetic smile. If he killed her, she wouldn't help her, because she would need to be sure that he wouldn't kill her friends. The 'find the coin' game began and she had to speed up her perception just so she could keep up with the blindingly fast movements.

There was one heart stopping moment where Gotoh threw the coin over their heads, hidden by the glare of the light and she was ready to intercept it if it came close to touching even a single hair on Gon's head. But the moment passed, and no one hurt them. Gon and her answered simultaneously and she sighed. How were Gon and Killua so good at everything, when she had to use her ability as a crutch just to keep up?! So annoying.

Then she looked at Kurapika and Leorio, and was glad she even had this ability that helped her keep up. She didn't want to be left behind.

"Oi Gotoh, are Gon and Kaname here yet?" She heard a familiar annoyed voice, and really couldn't help herself from grinning widely when he entered.

"Killua!" Gon and her spoke at the same time. Then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"You look like shit." She said instead of a greeting. Killua suppressed a smile.

"Since when are you a red head?" He greeted back. For a second she blinked confusion.

"Since forever?" Killua raised an eyebrow, before pulling a strand of brown hair in front of her. "Oh." Before a blush came over her and she scratched her cheek, looking away.

"I forgot to tell you guys? Surprise!" She looked at Kurapika, Leorio and Gon gawking at her hair in surprise. She laughed awkwardly. Killua shook his head at her and Gon recovered first.

"This colour actually suits you better, Kaname." She grinned at Gon's compliment.

"It's an awesome colour. Anyway-" She looked at Kurapika and Leorio. "Come on, guys. What are we waiting for?" Her eyes darted to Gotoh and Canary, a small nod of acknowledgement before they left.

The three of them pulled away with a smile.

"Let's go."

"Kaname?" Killua pulled her to stop when they were a bit farther from the mansion, and she smiled back at him.

"Yeah?" He tossed her a sheathed full length straight sword. She raised an eyebrow, before unsheathing it.

"Oh, wow." She gaped at the absolutely beautiful blade. It barely even had a scratch, and the edge was absolutely perfect. She tested it out, swinging it once. It sliced through the air with a sharp sound. The balance was amazing, but weight slightly heavier than her previous blades.

"It's been in my family for some time and since you use a similar weapon, I took it for you." He started to nonchalantly walk away.

"Ar-aren't these your family heirlooms or something?" She looked at Killua's back. He didn't turn around.

"It's fine. No one uses these things anyway." She kept gaping at his back for a while. She swallowed hard, looking at the sword.

 _He was giving her a gift?_

Her eyes were wide and her heart was beating like she had just run a marathon.

 _This was her first gift._

Kite never really gave her gifts. He just taught her life lessons. She couldn't help the way her whole face slowly became red.

"A-ah." She scratched her cheek, looking away.

"You coming?" He turned around slightly. His face tilted towards her and she spotted his blushing red ear. She grinned, keeping it in her bag.

"Thanks, Killua."

When they caught up to the others, Gon was grinning mischievously, and Kurapika huffed with false annoyed but smiled at them as well. Leorio grinned, looking at the matching red faces.

"Come on, let's go!" Gon laughed, taking them both by the wrist. They laughed at his eagerness, though they were both similarly eager to get away from the mountain.

"By the way, how many gates can you open when you put in the effort?" Kurapika wondered.

"Yeah, we heard you opened three!" Leorio joined in. Killua looked at Leorio with one eye, poking his tongue out.

"Wouldn't you like to know, old man! I bet you couldn't even open one on your own!"

"You brat! I'll show you!" Leorio ran after Killua. Gon laughed with Killua and she couldn't help smiling as she ran alongside them, enjoying the lighthearted atmosphere.


	8. Chapter 8

When they reached the airport, they discussed their goals for the immediate future- Leorio would go back home and study for medical entrance exam to collage, Kurapika wanted to get a job, and Killua would stay with Gon.

She chewed her lip wondering what she should do. She wanted to stay with Kurapika but they just got back Killua. She didn't want to be separated from Killua and Gon either. Her thoughts were distracted by the hand resting on her head, lightly messing her hair.

"It's okay. You should go with them." Kurapika gestured to Gon and Killua messing about and teasing each other.

"But then I'll be leaving you alone!" She protested. Kurapika smiled gently at her.

"Follow them and enjoy for some time. I'll get a job anyway. You wouldn't want to work yet. You're too independent to work under people."

Independent? She almost laughed. She had always depended on other people. On Ging, to pull her together; on Kite, to teach her; on Gon and Killua, to show her a path to follow; on Kurapika, to be burdened by her selfish desire. She had always depended on people to make her happy. She had never truly liked being alone, she had just gotten used to it.

"So, you don't want me to follow you?" She deeply into Kurapika's eyes, realizing what he meant. She fisted his tabard, for a moment before relaxing and letting go. She took a step back and smiled at him.

"Okay. I won't follow you." She turned back to Gon and Killua. "Hey you guys, want me hanging out with you more? Looks like Kurapika's kicking me off his ride!" Kurapika spluttered for a second before laughing along with the others.

It felt bittersweet.

"So, we'll meet again on 1st September at Yorknew City!"

"And you guys will finally see me with my actual hair colour in all its glory!" She joked. They grinned before parting ways.

After waving the blimp away, Gon, Killua and she were left at the observation deck alone.

"So what do you wanna do?" Killua asked Gon.

"What do you mean?" Gon asked, clueless. Killua got his 'super annoyed' face.

"I mean, you have to train to hit Hisoka! Have you thought about that?" She hid a smile. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"We could have fun!" Gon said excitedly. Killua hit Gon in his head.

"Idiot! You guys are like," Killua took a stick to draw a line from a drawing of Hisoka's face to the other end of the terrace before drawing Gon's face, "this far apart in strength."

Then Killua went into lecture mode, telling them how Gon was going to be crushed when he couldn't even defeat Hanzo, who was a little below Hisoka. Then he drew himself pretty close behind Hanzo.

"What about me?" She interjected. Killua hesitated, before drawing her behind him.

"That's what you are regularly. But when you use your ability, you're just above than Hanzo's level." She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but since I can't maintain my ability, I just keep it as a hidden triumph card. It's pretty tiring on me so, I can't just whip it out anytime either."

"Hmm." Killua looked thoughtful at that.

"How did you even get that ability?" She clenched her hands remembering the worst night of her life. Her hand went up to her eyes.

"During the massacre of my clan." She gave a bitter wry smile. "Or maybe, it would be better so say 'after'. If I had it during…" She shook her head. She didn't need to have such depressing thoughts. "It doesn't matter. I don't really know about the 'how'. I just had it."

"You guys are really amazing." She blushed and she knew by the surprised noise Killua made that he was blushing too.

"Heh. You are too, Gon! You might not be as good as Hanzo in a fight, but you still defeated him during the Hunter Exam!"

"Yes, just by being stubborn. Who knew that was so important for the Hunter Exam?!"

"Hmph. You didn't even pass! Speak for yourself mister-its-so-easy-I-can-pass-in-my-sleep!"

"I never said I could pass in my sleep!"

"So we need to train!" Gon spoke up a little louder to interrupt. Both of them got distracted at that.

"Yeah." Killua agreed. "And it's impossible for you to land a blow on him in 6 months, by normal means. So, Gon, Kaname, do you have any money?" Gon gave a sheepish smile.

"Actually, I'm running out..." Kaname started grinning at that.

"Oh! You want to take him there?" Killua smirked back.

"Yes, 6 months there and he will become better than Hanzo." She smirked.

"I hope you're not planning to sit on your butt doing nothing, because I've got a bit of training to do too!" Gon looked between them curiously. Kaname looked at Gon mischievously.

"It's a place where you get to earn money the more you fight! Its called Heaven's Arena. I went there once when I was young. I couldn't use my ability well then. So I got my ass kicked. I reached 100th floor then just left that place." She wrinkled her nose. "Some people were really assholes about me being a little girl, so I ended up killing a few people and had to leave the place."

She saw Killua and Gon sharing a glance.

"What?" Killua immediately got an innocent look on his face.

"What?" He mimicked innocently. Her eye twitched. Gon nervously laughed.

"Calm down you two…"

"I am calm." She said with a wide smile. Gon inched away. She really wondered how many female figures he had in his life to immediately recognize the 'better not mess with me' look on a female.

-x-

They reached the Heaven's Arena in a day and had to line up in a huge line. It felt weird to not have Leorio and Kurapika right behind them but she had lived years without either of them. It was just a product of how close they had become to her that she even missed them.

Gon, Killua and her played pranks on the people around them, switching around the bags of people around them and they kept daring each other to do more outrageous things. By the end of it, her face was pink from having to suppress laughter. Killua was wearing the hat she had stolen from a man and Gon kept laughing at her choice of hats. It was purple and had a huge feather on it. She was pretty sure Killua was pouting.

When they finally reached the receptionist, half the crowd was dying to get their hands on them. Killua snickered and gave a taunting wave that just served to infuriate them more.

They got the registration forms. She filled out the basic information and returned it. Killua registered as '2054', Gon as '2055' and she was '2056'. They sat with the other contestants. When Gon was called, he stood up with a nervous look on his face.

"I'm getting kind of nervous right now." She almost smiled, before remembering that Gon's last experience in a fight was with Hanzo where he got the shit beaten out of him. Killua gave him a confident look.

"You got through the Testing Gate, didn't you? Just push like that." Gon nodded before descending down the stairs. Killua glanced at her.

"You aren't getting nervous either, are you? You'll probably kill the guy if you push like that though." She winced.

"Yeah, I'm not doing that. Plus, I've been here before. No worries." Killua smirked and got up when his number was called.

"See you next floor." She nodded. After a few minutes' wait, her number was called. Her side of the auditorium was screaming "wait, another kid?" She looked at the indent on the wall beside hers and smirked. Gon was getting stronger. She remembered that a signature move was emphasized a lot, in the first few stages.

An angry, arrogant guy was her opponent.

"I bet that the match will be over in a second." She smirked and tilted her head.

"As you wish." And the second the referee said "start", she backhanded him. The guy barely took a second to hit the cement wall under the audience and make another dent, like Gon.

"Proceed to level 50." The referee told her after giving her a slip of paper.

"Thanks." She ambled down and made her way to the elevator where Killua, Gon and another kid were waiting. An assistant took them to level 50 after showing them the slip.

"I didn't expect everyone to be so normal." She spoke up ignoring the elevator lady's chatter. "I mean, where are all the other super strong people who can kick our asses without a thought? I really thought I'd see them." She yawned.

"Well, most people here aren't exactly specially trained. They're just here to earn money. But I heard that people above level 200 are really strong." Her eyes brightened.

"Like, Hunter level strong?"

"Maybe. The last time I gave up before I reached level 200." Her eyes went to the kid behind them. She 'hm'ed.

"Hey, you're strong right?" The kid immediately flushed.

"To reach level 50 in a single fight, you are stronger still!" She raised an eyebrow at Killua before she looked at the boy again. Her eyes softened and she smiled. They got off the elevator.

"I'm Kaname. This is Killua and Gon." She pointed at them as she spoke.

"And I am-"

"Zushi!"

"Ossu!" Zushi responded enthusiastically.

"I am pleased to see you follow my teachings so well. Who are with you?"

"Master, these are Gon, Killua and Kaname! They are strong people who made it to the 50 floor with a single match! This is my master, Wing sensei!"

"Ossu!" Gon and Killua responded back and she slightly blushed when she didn't say it as well.

"Um. Hello." Wing nodded at them.

"I wasn't expecting to see kids Zushi's age here. What brings you here?"

"Well, we wanted to get stronger but we're broke too, so we decided to get both here." Killua responded to them.

"I see. To have made it to this level, you all must be extremely talented." He didn't exactly look too surprised though. His gaze lingered on her. "But remember to pay close attention to your opponent's body and your own."

"Ossu!" They responded.

"Ossu." She responded a moment later. Wing smiled at them before leaving.

"Master Wing has been teaching me the Shingen Ryu technique. What discipline do you study under?" She blinked in surprise.

"We don't really study under a discipline." Gon popped up with a cheerful grin.

"You do not? I am humbled by your presence. To be so strong without formal training." He bowed and she scratched her cheek looking at Gon who decided to talk to Zushi.

"Technically, you do have formal training from your parents, don't you?" She whispered to Killua. He shrugged.

"A little but it was mostly resistence techniques. We developed what we needed, almost all of it on our own." She nodded. That made sense. Teach the basics and let them develop uniquely.

She found herself kind of liking Zushi. He was cute in a puppy-like manner. At level 50, they went to the waiting room, where Killua once again pissed everyone off. It was hilarious to watch Gon stumble with his words wondering what to say. All of them knew it was the truth and Killua really had no inclination to not rub it into weaker people's face.

When Killua was set to fight Zushi, she had to hide her laugh when Killua confidently told them to meet in the next floor. Gon sweatdropped.

"You guys… You really shouldn't encourage him like that, Kana." She smiled at him, happy he was finally calling her 'Kana'. While they went to get Killua back, he never called her 'Kana'. She was glad that he finally was.

She wanted to wash off the false hair colour soon though. She loved her hair, no matter how many nightmares it ended up giving her, but she couldn't do that until they got a hotel room with her hunter license. They should be grateful she was there with them, or who knew where they would have stayed otherwise.

"What can I say, Gon? It's really fun!" She grinned at Gon, and he looked at her a little reproachfully but he was laughing with her too.

Another announcement came for Gon and then a few minutes later, her name came up.

When she went to the arena, a tall muscled man stood before her, scoffing at her young age. It really reminded her of those men she had seen, all those years ago. Pushing her around like that. Was it any wonder she snapped and killed them all?

The announcer lady cheerfully told what a low bet she had and how she had dominated the match on the first floor. She got annoyed at being underestimated even after that.

They showed a cool shot of air flowing through her hair dramatically with her hand in front of her, and her eyes narrowed in what seemed like determination. Then her opponent was shown in a cool pose. She rolled her eyes.

The match started with the opponent rushing her and she backhanded the guy into a wall as well. The match ended with a one hit KO and she was shown to the next floor where she met Gon and Killua.

Killua told them about how Zushi was difficult to put down, about how the technique was called ' _Ren_ ' on the way to the hotel.

It sounded like one of the abilities. Like hers or Killua's sharp hand one.

When they finally got a room, the first thing she did was wash away all the brown color that remained in her hair. Then she tied a high pony and went into Gon's room where Killua hung around most days. Killua looked at her startled at the bright colour of her hair. It had gotten a bit longer than she would have liked, especially with the Hunter Exam and the mess with Zoldyck family.

"Hey Kana! You look really nice!" She smiled at Gon, approvingly.

"Looks like someone taught you manners." She sniffed dramatically in Killua's direction, actually feeling annoyed. "And yet, our resident assassin doesn't even have to decency to do the same. You should learn to complement a pretty girl." Then she stopped and replayed what she said. She hid her face in her hand before groaning loudly.

"Please feel free to ignore me when I say things like that. Looks like hormones are catching up to me." Both Gon and Killua were blushing when she looked at them again. "You guys are hanging out with a girl in your teens. What did you expect?" She smiled teasingly.

Gon blinked at her innocently, and Killua was slightly embarrassed but only because he really had forgotten girls were different from guys. She sighed. She really wouldn't be able to make them blush that way.

Okay, then. Ignore, it is!

She collapsed on Gon's bed, yawning. "I'm tired."

"Your hair is still wet!" She climbed up the bed with a teasing grin, a few strands of wet hair in her hand then she tickled his nose and ears. He spluttered and tried to roll away, towards Killua. She pulled Killua into their heap as well, rolling over both of them, making both their clothes wet.

"Noooo. You're getting us wet!" Gon protested while Killua started laughing, tickling her back. She was just glad she could enjoy this relaxing time with her friends.

After four relaxing days when all of them had reached 150th floor, Killua started griping about _Ren_ again. She was honestly frustrated enough to want to throw a shoe at him.

"Instead of complaining to us, why don't you just ask him!" She glared.

Killua got this 'why-did-i-not-think-this' pissed off face and started laughing, annoyed. Gon sheepishly laughed and she just slowly backed away from the duo, feeling done with her life.

Asking Zushi…that was not helpful at all.

He just said stuff about four basics of any martial arts discipline. When Killua got annoyed at Zushi and snapped at him, Wing came to explain. Killua told him about how his brother had the same ability and he needed to understand and learn it too, Wing agreed to teach them.

He brought them to his home and explained how they were disciplines basically saying 'focus' as _nen_. He demonstrated how to will his desire to kill into an actual projection of his will on his opponent. Her eye started twitching midway through his explanation. She really wanted to walk out as soon as she could.

"I call bullshit." She said the second they were relatively close to leaving their earshot. "And pretty sure Wing knew it too. Not like I can keep my thoughts hidden very well." Killua cracked a smile.

"That's true, you're very obvious with what you're feeling. Other than when you fight. The change is pretty obvious then." He put his hands behind his head casually. She wondered what that was supposed to be for. He hadn't done that during the exams, had he? Maybe he trusted them? But his response time was the same either way. Maybe to make him seem weaker than they actually were? Attract all the assholes who would want to cheat by beating the weaker kids.

She shrugged.

"Whatever he said was the wrong explaination." She said.

"Mm. There was no way Zushi should have been physically able to get up after the last attack. I got frustrated at him and forgot to hold back. It's not a question about will power."

"So I suppose we'll have to figure out on our own?" She frowned. That might be problematic. "I think we'll find what we want on the 200th floor. Those people are supposed to be inhumanly strong after all."

The next day, they went through matches and got through their last match on the 190th floor. She had been right. Till 190, all the normal people fought. On the 200th floor, no one escorted them.

On their way to the reception, Hisoka stopped them in his own creepy way. Telling them to come back after they had learned _nen_. The receptionist gave them the time limit to 12 o'clock. It was 8:30.

Wing was the one who came to save the day, then. He promised a proper explanation.

She wasn't sure if people could learn _Nen_ in less than 3 and a half hours. It was something they had never known, right? Her mind went to her ability. That may be connected to _nen_. Would that mean _nen_ would come easy to her?

Wing explained what _nen_ truly was. About how Hisoka was projecting malicious _nen_ that could only be protected by _ten_. That he would be teaching them _nen_ because on 200th floor, everyone knew _nen_. They were forcefully initiated if they didn't know about _nen._

Wing then explained how _ten_ created a protective shroud of aura around someone, and helped with slowing aging. Zetsu was the lack of aura when the aura nodes were closed. Ren was increasing their aura, useful for a fight. Hatsu was their own application of _nen_. They can only master _nen_ when they master Hatsu.

It was certainly more interesting than the previous explanation.

He told them how there were two ways to awaken aura and she finally connected it to her ability. Kite had told her to meditate and learn control but she had almost released her aura nodes instead. Or something. She wondered if she should say anything to Wing but she didn't trust him yet. She ended up not telling him.

Wing went on about how it was such a shame they didn't have enough time because all three could have mastered it in less than a week.

After opening Gon and Killua's aura nodes, she had to suppress the urge to murder Wing. They looked like they were in pain, and that happening in front of her…she really didn't like that.

But they seemed better in a few moments. They looked at their body like they were seeing them for the first time, even she felt the odd pressure from them. Killua looked at her then his eyes widened.

"What the hell?" He got this worried look then slowly leaned into her space, seemingly looking at her skin in specific places. Then stared into her eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, when Gon joined Killua at staring at her with slight alarm.

"Your aura is-" Gon fumbled, "leaking?" Her frown deepened.

"It's not harming her for now. I want you both to concentrate on your own aura first. Tell me, how does it feel?" Gon and Killua both concentrated deeply, relaxing their bodies while Wing slowly explained what they had to do. She almost felt like meditating too. Wing had a pretty soothing voice.

Leaving Gon and Killua to their devices, Wing came to her with hesitation.

"You're aura nodes are partially closed, and your aura feels different from theirs. Have you experienced any odd abilities or such?" There went her decision not to tell him.

"I do have an ability. I can use it and I have no idea how aura helps or hinders that ability." Wing frowned.

"I see. While I would have preferred you meditate, it would be prudent to open your aura nodes as soon as possible if you have already manifested an ability. You may have experienced some damaging side effects on yourself due to this. This is due to you not having your aura nodes completely open."

She deadpanned. The whole thing felt too anti-climatic. She had been worried about how limited her ability was, and he was just offering them a power up?

"Wait, those side effects. They weren't permanently damaging right?" Wing gave a reassuring smile.

"Your life force, trapped or not, would never permanently harm your body unless you are intentionally _sacrificing_ it."

"I see. Thank you, Mr. Wing. Please continue." She took off her jacket, leaving her with only a black tank top. _Sacrifice_?

"But first you must know that there is something wrong about your eyes." She stiffened. "Whatever ability you have is sacrificing either an ability your eyes have, or your sight. I must tell you that if you wish to continue, your ability will be fully awakened and you will lose whatever you are actively sacrificing."

"B-but it's not intentional!" She bit her lip to keep from saying anything else. Was that why she only had the crimson eyes of a Kurata in only one eye? Was she going to give it up already? Her last connection to her family? Her mother? Was this how she intended to betray them?

She felt the stinging of tears in her eyes and it felt like she couldn't breathe anymore. She didn't want to betray her clan like this!

"Kaname, take deep breaths. 1, 2, 3 and breathe in, hold, 1, 2, 3 and breathe out." Gon held her up while Killua talked to her calmingly. He took her hand and put it to his chest. She could feel his heart beat. He was close enough that she could hear his own steady breathing that imitated what he was telling her.

He slowly talked her down from her panic attack until she calmed down. Gon hesitantly released her into a seat.

"It's your choice if you want to go to the 200th floor." Wing said calmly. "You can refuse. You will still have another chance if you want to think about it." She put her face in her hand, her decision already made.

"There's no need." She looked at Wing. Killua stood up, relaxed. Her decision was made. There was nothing to worry about. "I won't be left behind." Gon looked at her, slightly concerned but knowing that she wouldn't be changing her mind.

When she stood up and looked at them, standing and waiting for her. She felt a smile slowly creep up.

 _She still had Kurapika,_ and that meant her clan wasn't gone. It was okay to give them up if she could get stronger _._ She still needed to make sure that Spider was dead.

"This might make you feel a little raw. Your nodes are already half opened so being forced fully open by someone else might actually hurt you." She nodded. Even if Gon frowned, he said nothing.

The warmth in his hand travelled to her body. It felt sudden and gradual at the same time. She wasn't even aware of the way her back arched and her eyes bled. It was like lightening, except without the pain. Then when it faded, pain slammed down on her with all the subtly of a train.

She screamed, in surprise and pain, before clamping her mouth shut. Blood flooded her mouth. Her hands dug into the flooring, barely aware of the rotting of wood around her. Her skin felt too sensitive. The rubbing of her skin against the flooring felt almost too painful. She spit out the blood. Eyes blinded by tears.

A hand reached for her.

"Don't! Anyone touching her with active aura is only going to hurt her." The flashlight-like awareness of the hand nearing her faded and she barely gasped when she felt Gon pull her up. She forcibly suppressed her ability, when she came in contact with him.

"Are you an idiot? Don't- don't touch me when I have my ability active. I could kill you." She glared at Gon's hand. Gon just grinned.

"But you didn't. You would never hurt us." She huffed out an annoyed breath, before smiled at him, fond and teasing.

"Just wait until we're fighting against each other! I'll totally beat you!" Killua scoffed.

"We both have _nen_ now. We'll surpass you soon."

"With an Hatsu ability like yours, I can only agree. It would be absolutely lethal to anyone." He looked at her seriously. "You must not use this ability on a person." She looked at him blankly. What did he think her ability even was?

Looking around her, she saw rotting wood, slightly concerned about the state of the floor. She lightly nudged the piece of wood where she had collapsed a minute ago and it collapse on itself. They jumped back when half the floor collapsed along with it. There was shouted complains from the neighbors but no one from below them.

"Just be glad there's no one living below me." She laughed sheepishly in response.

"I'll pay for the expenses?" Wing gave her a disapproving glare.

* * *

 **Sorry for the super long delay! I hope enjoy this unusually long chapter...**


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